Reflecting & Storytelling About Teaching
Sometimes I’ve been teaching a skill in such a mediocre way for so long that I hardly realize how much better it could be – until something shakes me from my stupor. For instance, I’ve always known that my students could use actual books more effectively in their research papers… Continue reading
A teacher friend and I have what we like to call a “book club of two.” We meet throughout the year and especially in the summers, on patios on L.A.’s Ventura Boulevard over spinach salad and iced tea, shrimp tacos and sauvignon blanc. We have no specific criteria, but the books we love… Continue reading
Thanks for visiting! This is a place to find my writing, both education pieces and personal essays. I teach history and do academic administration at an independent school just north of Los Angeles. I’ve also written two books about history teaching, Creating Citizens (Routledge, 2018) and Making History Mine (Stenhouse, 2009), and write a regular column for MiddleWeb’s Future of History blog. In my free time, I like to run, cook, play piano, listen to Broadway musicals, search for good bakeries and spend time with my husband and two sons. I’ve also taught English and love young adult fiction. @sarahjcooper01
This is not one of those stories in which I show myself what I’m capable of or master a feat I’d never imagined accomplishing. Well, it’s sort of one of those stories — but really it’s a story about coaching, mentoring, and teaching. About how our seemingly small comments and actions can accrue to become… Continue reading
When I walked into a one-hour session at the most recent National Council for the Social Studies annual conference – a mega-gathering with ideas and fellow teachers spilling from every corner, not to mention a celebrity sighting of Constitution USA guru Peter Sagal – I didn’t expect to walk out ready to transform… Continue reading
So many social studies topics, from history to civics, pop even more when we add electronic pizzazz. Of course, video clips and photos are easy ways to start, especially for events from the 20th century and beyond. But the best technology… Continue reading
Why do we want to make our students into historians? Not because even a fraction of a percent of them might become writers or professors – but because “doing history” teaches life skills hard to learn… Continue reading
